Veneer slicer



Ailig. 4, :1931.-

E. G. STACK VENEER SLICER Filed Feb. '7, 1929 44 Sheets-Sheet,

Ag.r4, 1931. E. G. sTAcK 1,817,779

VENEER sLIcR Filed Feb. '7, 1929 4v Sheets-Sheet, 2

E. G. STACK VENEER SLICER Au-g. 4, 1931.

Filed Feb. 7. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet. 5

. II l Il. .I lo SV HmTMwlwl 1 1 1 ai 51N fr ma ,N

Aug.` 4, 1931. E. G. s'rAcK VENEER SLICER Filed Feb. '7, 1929x y Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENToFFVIcE EMMET G. STACK, OF MARSHFIELD, OREGON VENEER SLIGER Application filed February 7, 1929. y seiai'ivo. 338,275.

My invention relates to a veneer slicer particularly adapted to lslice battery separator blanks, orange box ltops and the like, performing the operation quickly, cheaply and continuously, and at the same time doing so with a minimum waste of material. It relates to a slicer adapted to slice either vertical or slash grain stock. It is my intention to first make flitches of any convenient thickness and of exactor approximate width and of exact or approximate length and then slice from the bottom thereof the veneers of the predetermined thickness. While it is desirable to have the flitches as thick as possible my machine permits the use of stock now undesirable for slicing. To slice such stock is one of the objects in advancing this machine. It relates to a machine having one or more stock hoppers placed above the slicing means in a manner as to permit the stock being sliced to feed continuously down onto an endless bed slicing` arrangement carrying one or more knives wherein each knife slices olf a veneer as it passes the stock in each successive hopper. It relates to a machine having the feed in one direction thus eliminating the batting back andforth of the flitches asin slide slicers and in so doing breaking up the spault. It relates to a machine in which several length-s of stock, and widths for that matter, within the range of the machine may be cut at the same time and the veneers kept segregated automatically. It relates to a machine in which the hoppers may be kept supplied with aminimum of labor.

The accompanying drawings togetherwith my specification will fully explain my invention. Fig. 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2 is a side view; Fig. 3 is a section on A-B in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a large `size plan view of a section of chain showing a knife, and links preceding and following it; Fig. 5 is a section on C-D in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a section on E-F in Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a section on G-I-I iii-Fig. v4; Fig. 8 is a section on I-J in Fig. 4; Fig. 9l is a section on K-L in Fig. 4; Fig. 10 is a plan view Vof a hopper; Fig. 11 is a side view of a hopper and one meansV for lifting the end slide-s thereof; Fig. 12 is an end viewof the dogging device; Fig. 13 is a side view of the doggmg device.

Similar'nume'rals refer to similar parts i thruout the several views.

It will become apparent as one peruses the drawings that many deviations may be made in the'construction of parts of my machine without departing from the basic idea. I have shown the machine built up of rolled sections. Cast sections might be used and also wood, or, any combination of the three. The shape of the rolled sections used may be varied. I am taking a very cheap, durable, yet eflicient form of construction for purposes of illustration. The machine proper is shown supported on two sills 1 and l. The H beams 2 and 2 which support the rear end of the machine, and the H beams 2A and 2A which support the front or driving end of the; machine', rest on the sills 1 and 1. The H beams 2A and 2A are made longer` in order to4 give support to the reduction gear 3 and the Amotor 4 which lin this instance is used for the driving means.

While the drawings show the vpinion mounted on thereduction gear shaft 3A and meshing with the gear 6 keyed to the head end shaft 7, it can be seen that power vmay be applied to the shaft 7 in many other ways.

This is apparent to anyone without further explanation on my part. 'Upon the H beams 2 `and 2, and 2A and 2A, I place the two channels 8 and 8 with their flan-ges turned in. I have shown these two channels 8 `and 8 to extend the 'full length o'f the machine,

which incidentally may be made any desired length. At both the front and rear ends I place other short channels 8A 'back to back with the channels 8 in order to 'form a wide support for the front or head shaft bearings 9 and 9, the rear or tail shaftA bearings 10 'and 10 which I usually make with a take-up V(not illustrated.) At spaced intervals I secure the angles 11 to the channels 8, corresponding angles on each channel being opposite each other. The Iangles 11 vextend downwardly and upwardly from the channels 8. The upward end of opposite angles 11 are tied together by the H vbeams 12. On these H beams 12 I place two angles iop 12 and 13 parallel with the channels 8 and 8. The spacing of these angles 13 and 13 govern the maximum width of stock cut. Upon these angles 13 and 13 I bolt the angles 14 which are shown extending downwardly and upwardly past the angles 13 as to form the hoppers 15, live of which are shown. The number o-f the hoppers 15 is optional within the range of the machine. By providing additional bolt holes the angles 14 may be changed to form other sizes of the hoppers 15 or varied sizes of the saine. The angles 14 that forno the hoppers 15 may be secured in any suitable manner to the angles 13 and may be secured or adj ustably secured to the same depending on just how much refinement one desires in the machine. Later on I shall proceed to more fully describe this very suitable form of hopper. Upon the head shaft 7 are keyed the sprockets 16 and 16 and on the tail shaft '7A is keyed one sprocket 17 while the spocket 17A runs loose. Over these four sprockets run the endless chains 18 and 18. On the drawings I have shown a long link roller chain with thru rods and outboard supporting and guide wheels. These chains 18 and 18 while they must be very accurately made and finished may vary considerably in construction and refinement. It is also apparent that wearing blocks to guide and support the chain may be used in lieu of the wheels. Then using wearing blocks especially with short pitch chain the thru rods may be replaced with auxiliary tie plates fastened to both chains to prevent eccentric loading. rllhe above is only one of many possible changes that may be made without departing from the basic idea. A cable may also be used to connect and drive the table elements later to be described. I have used the chains 18 and 18 for illustration. In this case the chains 18 and 18 act as connecting links for the table elements. The chains 18 and 18 are shown made up of the outer straps 18A and the inner angle straps 18B. Between -these straps and mounted on the thru rods 19 are the bushed rollers 2() which engage with the teeth on the sprockets 1G, 16, 17, and 17A. The weight of the chain and material on it is supported by the grooved guide wheels 21 and the flat wheels 22. On the feed these wheels run on the tracks 23 and 24 respectively which are mounted on the clips 25 secured to the angles 11, and on the return on the tracks 26 and 27 respectively which are mounted on the clips 28 secured to the angles 11. The grooved wheels 21 serve to guide the chain in a. straight line. On the angles 11 are secured the angles 29 and 29 which serve as guards and covers over the chains 18 and 18. To these angles 29 and 29 are adjustably secured the guide strips 30 by the screws 31 thru the agency of which the guide strips 30 are for the most efficient cutting of the wood worked upon. This most efficient cutting angle for the conditions encountered may also be had by having the cutting edge of the knife 33 across the chains 18 and 18 and placing the hoppers 15 at an angle therewith. J ust as the cutting edge of the knife 33 may be varied so also may the angle of the hoppers 15 be changed to meet cutting conditions. I have shown the knives 33 spaced upon the chains 18 and 18 at equal intervals, each knife being preceded by two sections of table or bed plate as 34 and 34 covering' two pitches of chain and a section 34A filling out the space between the cutting edge of the knife 33 and the adjacent edge of the bed plate 34, and followed by two sections of bed plate as 35 and 35 covering two pitches of chain. I have shown the bed plates 35 fastened to the horizontal legs of the inner strap angles 18B by the countersunk head bolts 36. The construction and fastening of the bed plates 35 is clearly shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 7 I show the fastening of a knife Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the knife 33. The knife 33 forms a cover or bed plate. The knife 33 is provided with T headed slots 37 for the bolts 38 which secure it to the hori- Zontal legs of the inner strap angles 18B. lVith this arrangement the knife 33 may be easily removed for grinding, or it may be moved back for honing, or set up in any desired relation with the edge of the bed plate 34A which serves as a pressure bar. Compensation for wear of thecutting edge of the knife 33 is made in this way. If the cutting edge 'of the knife 33 is across the chains 18 and 18 the knife 33 may be made wide enough to extend over part of the next link, the bed plate 34A being made narrow. This permits the throat between the cutting edge of the knife 33 and the adjacent edge of the bed plate 34A to be enlarged as the chain goes over the sprockets and thus one is enabled to hone the knife 33 at this place without moving it. The fastening, removal, and adjustment of the knives 33 may be the same in either instance. The top face of the knife 33 is in the saine plane as the to-p face of the bed plates 35 thus forming a continuous bed therewith. lVith the new process of cinch welding the cutting edges of the knife 33 may be renewed when too badly worn. This permits the use of a cheap steel in the body of the knife 33, with the cutting edge thereof of a high grade steel. F ig. 9 shows the relation that may be had between the knife 33 and the'v pressure bar 34A. In order to. slidetheknife 3,3A back for, honing I have shown a shortened section of bed plate 35 adjacent the knife 33. In order to give clearance for the veneer being cut to go. thru the chains 18 and 18 where the thru rods 19 are used, the rod 19 immediately following the knife 33 is bent up or offset as shown in Fig. 5. Ifrivets were usedv for the chain or only at this point in lieu of the thru, rods 19 the above,of course,would not be necessary. Thru rods as 19 make thev best con-A struction. Fig. 8 shows the [method of adjusting the bed plates y3 4 and 34 and .the section 34A to any plane below the top of the knives 33 and the bed plates 35 depending on the thicknessl of veneers it is desired to cut. This adjustment is: made by the collared screws 39. In Fig. 4 I have sho-wn dowels. 40 serving to guide and hold these bed plates 34 and 34A in addition to the collared ad. justing screws 39. The adjustment ofthe bed plates 34 and 34A` might be made by other means as wedges, eccentrics or gear operated collared adjusting screws. This feature would be governed entirely by the degree of refinement sought in the machine. The order of the adjustment of the two'sets of bed plates and the knife ymay be reversed, but I believe it more feasible to employ the order described. From the above it will be seen thatI have provided an endless bedoperable to move under stock in the hoppers 15, this bed providing a support fori` the stock regardless of its position with relation to the cutting edge of the knives 33. Thepres# sure from the cutting edge of the knife 33 is` always one way and Vthestock is noty broken up, as it getsthin, thru batting it back and forth as Y, with reciprocating knives, thus stock'ordinarily wasted'in spaults` is saved. This is one of the principal objects in developing. this machine as material 0f any thickness can be all worked upy and much material not now suitable for slicing can be utilized. It can be seen that the spacing of the knives 33 may be varied by adding or taking out sections of bed plates, thus a wide range of stock according to. lengths may be cut. The hoppers 15 may be varied in size and number to suitconditions.

I have shown means wherebystock the hoppers 15 may be raised without imvloakding the same if it ever should-become. desirable to lremove a spault. This means also serves for stopping the downward flow of stock onto the moving table or bed. 4I accomplish this by the, slides 41 movable-up 'and down on the legs of the angles 14 which form the ends of the hoppers 15. I have shown the edges of these legs of the angles14planed to form ways as to bring the inner face of the slides 41 flush with the inner face of these legs. On the bottom of the slides 41 is formed the boss 42 which extends across its face. This boss 42 is bored for ythe shaft 43 upon which are cut gear teeth 44 which mesh with the rack 45 cut on the dogs 46 slidable in holes thru the boss 42 at right angles to, the shaft 43. The dogs .46 have their ends adjacent the hoppers 15 drawn out into a chisel face. These dogs 46 are moved into and out of the stock by moving the kweighted lever 47 secur-ed to the shaft .43. End movement o-f the shaft 43 is prevented by the screw 48 ythe end of which enters an annular groove 49 cut in this shaft. In the drawingsvthe slides 41 carry three dogs two of which pass thru the legsofthe angles 14 which are slotted'to allow for the upward movement of the dogs. The lowest position of the slides 41 is gauged by the adjusting screws 50 held by the boss 51 on the upper end of the slides 41. On the angles L14 is secured the angle stop platev 52 which serves asthe stop for the screwsv 50. This stop plate 52 rests on the top of the up. right leg of the angle 13 and takes the load off the bolts 14A. The slides 41 are shown connected to levers 53 by the rods 54 attached to the slides 41 thru the lugs 55. The levers 53 are secured to cross shafts 56 journalled in the bearings 57 slidable to any position desired on the longitudinal shafts 58 carried in any suitable manner above the machine. Theoperation ofthe cross shafts 56 and` with them their respective slides 41 is effected in any suitable manner by any suitable. system of levers .thru the action of the operator or. the agency of steam or air cylinders.` The cross. shafts 56 are made slidable on the lon? gitudinal shafts 58. in .orden to adjiust them to` any change in the hoppenlengths. Suficient stock may be kept in the hoppers 15 at all times to effect .a good `contact of the ma,.- terial on the moving bed, the hoppers 15 being made deepenoughto bri-ngfabout this condition. If it was desired to make shorter hoppers or provide additional pressure on the stockythis may be done in many ways, for instance, thru the use of lair cylinders.` -On the loading side of the hoppers 15 I have cut out a semi-circular piece as 591 from the legs of ythe angles 14 so as to be able `to remove a spault. In removing the spauflt the operator lifts all the stock in the hoppers 15 abovefthe spault which may then be. removed With a. picaroon or liftedv bv a blast of air and then removedby hand. The guard angles 29 and 29 used in my designs have been made of 8 X` 8 X l/fg angles. If the hoppers 15 are placed on an angle the entire superstructure above the top of the guard angles 29 and 29, may be dispensed with by spanning these twol angles 29 and 29,by others ofl similar size, one for each hopper 15, it being understood, however, that they are made long enough to suit the kadjustment for any desired angle. To theseangles may b e secured or adjust-ably secured at right angles two other angles: of the size' as. to` forma' Support for the ways of the slides 41 on the hopper ends. Many changes might be made in this hopper without departing from the basic idea. In an application for -a horizontal rotary veneer slicer filed by me August 22, 1927, Ser. No. 214,648, I have shown and described a hopper working on the same principle. The plates 60 are set in about the posit-ion shown to catch the veneers as they are cut and carry them clear of the machine to any suitable tab-le or conveyor. These plates 60 be varied in length under each hopper so that the stock from this hopper may be delivered to a conveyor separate from the others. This is a very desirable feature if one were cutting different lengths of stock at the same time. The hoppers are shown loaded from one side. The stock may be brought to the operator in any suitable manner, no particular method being shown. The work floor en the loading side may be supported as shown, the joists 6l resting on the channel 8.

Having described my machine, the operation of which is obvious from the detailed description, and with the assertion that I do not limitmyself to just the exact details enumerated in each description of its parts, I claim:

l. A veneer Slicer having a traveling slicing arrangement comprising a horizontal, sectional-top, endless bed with one or more knives spaced between sections of said bed and forming a part of the top therewith, the top faces of said sections of bed following a knife being on the same plane as the top face of the knife, and the top faces of said sections of the bed preceding a knife being adjustable to a' plane below the knife. for the purpose of gauging the thickness of veneers it is desired to cut. Y

2. A veneer slicer having a traveling slicing arrangement comprising a horizontal, sectional-top, endless bed with one or more knives spaced between sections of said bed and forming a part of the top therewith, the top faces of said sections of the bed following a knife being adjustable to the same plane as the top face of the knife and the top faces of saidsections of the bed preceding a knife being adjustable to a plane below the knife for-the purpose of gauging the thickness of veneers it is desired to cut.

3. A veneer slicer having horizontal, endless, traveling cha-ins spaced apart; spaced knives actuated by said chains and adaptable to form part of the top of an endless bed completed by other top sect-ions actuated by the chains, and adjustable to the shearing plane of the knife so as to gauge the thickness of the veneers it is desired to cut and to prevent the rocking of stock during slicing.

4. A veneer slicer having horizontal, endless, traveling, driving-mediums spaced apart; an endless, sectional-top bed actuated by the driving-mediums and formed by spaced knives and other sections in adjustable relation to the shearing plane of the knives so as to gauge the thickness of the veneers it is desired to slice and keep the stock from rocking during the slicing, and, in a manner as to automatically open the throat between a knife and preceding section of bed sutlicient for honing the knife when the bed sections and knives depart from a straight line during the course of their travel.

5. A veneer slicer having horizontal, endless, traveling, driving-mediums spaced apart; spaced knives actuated by said driving-mediums and adaptable to form part of the top of an endless bed completed by other top sections also actuated by the drivingmediums and adjustable to the shearing plane of the knives so as to gauge the thickness of the veneers it is desired to cut and to prevent the rocking of stock during slicing.

6. A veneer slicer having a series of stock hoppers disposed above a horizontal, sectional-top, endless, traveling bed having one or more knives adaptable to slice veneers of a pre-determined thickness from stock in the hoppers, and variable means for deiecting the sliced veneers coming from each hopper separately to separate segregations as desired for further handling.

7 A stock hopper of a veneer slicer provided with raisable slides carrying dogs operable to retard the downward flow of stock in the hopper if desired, or, to hold the same as to permit any part of the stock in the hopper to be raised with the slides for the purpose of removing stock below.

8. An adjustable hopper of a veneer slicer provided with raisable slides carrying dogs operable to retard the downward flow of stock in the hopper if desired, or, to hold the same as to permit any part of the stock in the hopper to be raised with the slides for the purpose of removing stock below.

9. A stock hopper of a veneer Slicer provided with slides carrying slidable dogs, operable by a gea-r whose teeth mesh in a rack cut in the body of the dog, operable to retard the downward flow of stock in the hopper if desired, or, to hold the same as to permit any part of the stock in the hopper to be raised with the slides for the purpose of removing stock below.

l0. A stock hopper of a veneer slicer, adjustable to size or position, provided with raisable slides carrying dogs operable to retard the downward flow of stock in the hopper if desired, or, to hold the saine as to permit any part of the stock in the hopper to be raised with the slides for the purpose of removing stock below.

EMMET Gr. STACK. 

